Spirit gets a little too close for comfort with some Auburn fans after colliding with a luxury-box window. (The Associated Press)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Auburn's live mascot is recovering nicely after hitting the window of a suite Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Spirit, one of three live eagle mascots, hit the glass during his famous pre-game flight but recovered to complete the longer-than-usual descent to the 50-yard line.

[Video of Spirit's flight from CBS42 below]

"It looked like he hit the plexiglass hard," said Jamie Bellah, director of the Southeastern Raptor Center at Auburn. "I looked him over and couldn't find a bruise. It doesn't look very good when you see it on the video, but I think he must have recognized he was going into something because his feet came out a little bit."

After hitting the window, Spirit flew closer than usual toward fans, some of whom ducked in their seats. Bellah said in his seven years he has never witnessed an incident with one of Auburn's three eagles such as what happened Saturday.

Auburn's pre-game flight is considered one of the best traditions in college football. Spirit, a bald eagle, has been doing flights since 2001 and is 13 to 14 years old, roughly the same age as another eagle he takes turns with, Nova. Tiger is 31 years old and retired from flights in 2006.

Spirit has taken a practice flight since the collision and seemed fine, said Bellah, who has been inundated with concern from Auburn fans. As to why Spirit took a wrong turn to collide with the window, Bellah can only speculate.

"We've talked about, did he get an angle where he saw his image in the glass?" Bellah said. "I don't know why he decided to go in that direction. I wish I could talk to him and understand, I really do. He has the biggest vocabulary of our eagles. He is a wild species. I guess the truth is when he's out on his own, if he wants to make a different decision, he can certainly do so."